Entertainment
Ashley Cain’s daughter Azaylia opens her eyes for first time in days as Niagara Falls and Eiffel Tower light up orange in support
Ashley Cain’s daughter Azaylia has opened her eyes for the first time in several days as she continues fighting a rare form of leukaemia.
The eight-month-old is at home being looked after by her parents, Ex on the Beach star Ashley and his partner Safiyya Vorajee, as well as a community nurse after doctors revealed there were no more options left to treat her disease.
In recent days, Ashley and Safiyya have been using cold compresses on Azaylia’s eyes as she struggled to keep them open.
However, the family saw a breakthrough today with Ashley, 30, telling his Instagram followers: ‘Another day to count our blessings…
‘We’ve had another very tough day today. To be honest, every single day is a very tough day.
‘We don’t take Azaylia out of our site [sic] for a single second at the moment, caring for her every need. Today was the first time for days that she has been able to open her eyes. The swelling and the blood in her tears is causing her pain and forcing them to stick and shut.
‘But with relentless care and improvisation we’ve managed to help her see the world again.’
The former footballer revealed that Azaylia doesn’t have much energy at the moment but they had ‘the loveliest little play time’ with her on Sunday and she ‘loved to see her surroundings’.
He added: ‘We even got a smile which was worth more than anything money can buy. As a parent it’s the hardest thing in the world to see your child like this, at home with the painful inevitable fait [sic] pending.’
Sharing how optimistic he is about Azaylia’s recovery, Ashley admitted: ‘For some insane reason though, I still have some crazy belief that she will still be with us next week, the week after that and the week after that.
‘But we aren’t counting the days right now, we’re just doing our best to make those days count.’
Azaylia was diagnosed with AML (acute myeloid leukaemia), a rare and aggressive form of cancer, when she was just eight weeks old.
Her ordeal has raised awareness for the disease and Safiyya revealed that several landmarks around the world, such as Niagara Falls and the Eiffel Tower, had lit up orange this weekend in support of the tot and other children fighting similar illnesses.
Ashley and Safiyya have raised over £1.5million in Azaylia’s name, which they originally hoped to use for her treatment, but are expected to share much of it among other children’s charities.
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